Dowel supporting structure for highway joints



July 24, 1962 A. F. CRONE 3,045,564

DOWEL SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR HIGHWAY JOINTS Filed Jan. 31, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 24, 1962 F. CRONE 3,045,564

DOWEL SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR HIGHWAY JOINTS Filed Jan. 51, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 9 3,045,564 DOWEL SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR HIGHWAY JOINTS Alfred F. Crone, Williamsville, N.Y., assignor to Acme Highway Products Corporation, Bufialo, N.Y. Filed Jan. 31, 1958, Ser. No. 712,539 4 Claims. (Cl. 94-8) This invention relates to supporting structure for use in connection with highway construction for supporting dowels in such position that after the concrete has been poured the dowels will be correctly located in the adjoining slabs of a concrete road or highway.

It is frequently desirable to transport the dowels separately from the supporting structure for the same and then assemble the dowels in their supports on their location on the road bed. This is, for example, the case when the dowels used in a part of a highway may be more conveniently obtained from a source remote from that at which the supporting racks for the dowels are produced. Consequently it is desirable to provide racks or dowel supports of this kind in which the dowels can be readily positioned and locked in place without skilled labor or special tools.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a dowel support or rack which is so formed that the dowels may be easily positioned on the rack and firmly held in place thereon during the pouring of the concrete. Another object is to provide supporting structures or racks for dowels which are so formed that they can be readily nested one within the other to facilitate transportation of the same to the portion of the highway in which they are to be used.

A further object is to provide a supporting structure or rack of this type in which dowels of different diameters may be employed without requiring diiferent supporting structures.

In the accompanying drawings- FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of a roadbed having a dowel type load transfer device embodying this invention positioned thereon.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevation thereof.

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation thereof on an enlarged scale on line 33, FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view thereof on line 4-4, FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing diagrammatically how dowels of different diameters may be used in connection with my improved construction.

Dowell supporting members or racks of this type are intended to hold the dowels in place during the pouring and setting of the concrete and are not depended upon to transmit any loads or to add any strength to the highway after the concrete has become set. In the construction shown by way of example, I have shown my invention applied to a contraction joint between two slabs 9 and 10 of concrete separated by a plane of weakness cut 11 extending across the pavement, which is laid on a subgrade 12. It will be obvious that my invention is equally applicable to expansion joints.

The dowel supporting structure is made of iron rods of a diameter sufiicient to provide ample strength for the supporting of the dowels 8 and to permit handling the structure during transport and for positioning of the same on a subgrade. This structure includes a holder or chair for each dowel arranged below the same and extending crosswise of the pavement joint, and these holders are rigidly connected :by a series of connecting members which extend crosswise of the highway and approximately parallel to the joints between concrete slabs.

The holders or chairs of the supporting structure each include a base 15 which rests on the subgrade and is provided at opposite ends thereof with upwardly extending and outwardly inclined arms 16 whichmay be formed integral with the ends of the base or which may be welded or otherwise secured to the base as shown. The

5 upper portions of these arms are provided with outwar-dly offset portions 17 which terminate at their outer ends in upwardly extending abutment parts 18 arranged at or slightly beyond the ends of the dowel and against which the dowel may abut to limit the movement of the dowel in the direction of its length. These upwardly extending parts 18 project somewhat above the inner surface of the dowel and may be bent over from the dotted line position shown in FIG. 3 to the full line positions, thus forming dowel retaining parts 19 which overlie the upper surface of the dowel. The bending over of the parts 18 may be readily done by means of a blow with a hammer, and to facilitate the bending of these pants in the desired relation to the dowel, the upper ends of the parts 18 may be provided with notches or recesses 20 which slightly reduce the cross section of these parts to weaken the same at the desired locations so that they can be readily bent over upon the upper face of the dowel.

The several dowelsupporting holders or chairs are connected and secured in correct relation to each other by means of connecting members 24 arranged at the lower portions of the arms 16. These connecting members may be secured to the arms 16 and the base 15 in any suitable manner, for example by means of welds 25, FIG. 4.

Additional connecting members 28 are provided which are secured to the arms 16 above the connecting members 24. These upper connecting members are provided adjacent to the end portions of the dowels with recesses 30 formed by downwardly and upwardly bent portions of these connecting members. These recesses 30 receive the dowels and hold them against movement transversely of their length. These upper connecting members may be secured to the arms 16 in any desired manner, for example, by welding the lower portions of the bent parts or recesses 30 to the arms 16, as shown at 31, FIGS. 4 and 5.

By means of the construction described, when a supporting structure for the dowels is placed in correct relation to the subgrade of a road, the dowels 8 can be readily positioned on this supporting structure by placing the same so that the ends of the dowels seat in the recesses 30 of the upper connecting member and between the upwardly extending abutment parts 18 of the arms. When a dowel is thus located, it is only necessary to bend over the upper portions of the abutment parts 18 to overlie the dowel and this can be readily done by blows of a hammer or other implement. The dowel will then be held against movement in the direction of its length by the abutment parts 18 of the arms 16, and the dowel will rest in the downwardly bent portions 30 of the connecting members 28 so that it cannot be moved crosswise of its length, and the bent-over portions 19 of the arms 16 serve to lock the ends of the dowels in the recessed portions 30 of the connecting members 28. The dowels will thus be securely held against movement by the concrete when poured on the subgrade to form the pavement slabs.

It is also desirable that these bent portions 30 of the connecting members 28 be of V-shaped form. When the upper connecting members are formed in this manner, then it will be obvious from an inspection of FIG. 5 that the dowel-supporting structure may be used with dowels of different diameters. The upper portion of the abutment part may be provided with a plurality of notches 20, one for each size of dowel that may be used with the supporting structure.

It will be noted that the structure of the supporting structure is such that for storage and shipment, these devices before the dowels are assembled therein can be nested or fitted one within the other so as to occupy a comparatively small space. The base members may be provided with weakened portions or laterally extending bends or crimps 35 in the middle portions thereof which may be broken or flexed when pavement contracts so that these bases will not damage or set up stresses in the pavement slabs.

The highway joint described is of simple and easily fabricated construction and requires no skilled labor nor special tools to assemble the dowels on the supporting member.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials and arrangements of parts, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art, within the principle and scope of the invention, as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A highway joint between two pavement slabs, including a series of dowels connecting the slabs, a supporting structure for said dowels formed of rods and including a dowel holder for each dowel located below a dowel and having a base portion adapted to rest on a sub-grade and upwardly extending arms at the opposite ends of said base portion, the upper portions of said arms having integral abutment parts extending upwardly beyond and adjacent to the ends of said dowels to limit lengthwise movement of said dowels, and connecting members also formed of rods and extending substantially parallel to said joint and secured to said arms, said connecting members having downwardly bent portions at said arms forming recesses in which the end portions of the dowels lie to confine them against lateral movement, said abutment parts extend upwardly above the u per surface of said dowels and are bent over the en s of said dowels to confine said dowels in said dowel receiving recesses of said connecting members.

2. A highway joint according to claim 1 in which said upward extensions of said abutment parts have portions of reduced cross section at the level of the upper surfaces of said dowels to facilitate bending of said extensions over dowels of dilferent diameters.

3. A dowel supporting structure for use in a highway joint, including a plurality of dowel holders formed of wire rods, and arranged below said dowels, each dowel holder having a base and arms secured to and extending upwardly from the ends of said base, the upper ends of said arms extending beyond and in close proximity to the ends of said dowels to confine the same against movement in the direction of its length, and connecting members also made of wire rods secured to a plurality of said holders at said arms for spacing the same in desired relation to each other, said connecting members having downw-ardly extending bent portions at said arms forming downwardly converging recesses into which end portions of said dowels lie, said arms substantially bisecting said recesses and means on said arms which are bent over the upper surfaces of said dowel to hold the same in said recesses.

4. A dowel supporting structure according to claim 3 in which said recesses in said connecting members are of V-shape and open at their upper ends to receive dowels of different diameters.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,163,397 Fn'berg June 20, 1939 2,193,129 Geyer et :al Mar. 12, 1940 2,227,614 Willard Jan. 7, 1941 2,256,930 Willard Sept. 23, 1941 2,265,301 Meyer .et al. Dec. 9, 1941 2,272,761 Awbrey Feb. 10, 1942 2,439,428 Hillberg Apr. 13, 1948 2,462,353 Brickrnan Feb. 22, 1949 2,467,806 Brickman Apr. 19, 1949 2,627,793 White Feb. 10, 1953 2,864,289 DeCanio Dec. 16, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,177 Great Britain 1915 

